Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (258 page)

“What?” Kara blurted out, as she wiggled out of his grip. “Wait, uh…David, can you tell me what’s going on? What am I supposed to do here? What did Ramiel mean by, ‘
there’s a soul to be burned
?’” Kara had a terrible feeling
her
soul was the one to be barbecued.

“Huh? Oh, right. Don’t worry about Ramiel.
Archangels
think they own the place, just because they report to The Chief in person. Think that makes them
special
. Just a bunch of swollen-headed morons, if you ask me,” he sneered and turned on his heel. He set off towards the fields of brilliant globes.

Kara chased after him. “So …soul burning—what’s that? The thought of burning anything makes me nervous.”

“You’ve lost Mrs. Wilkins’ soul …so we have to go burn it. We have to throw the dead souls into the white fires of Atma. They can never be reborn.”

“Souls can be
reborn
?” said Kara in awe. She couldn’t picture it.

“Of course… when a mortal body dies, the soul is reborn into another mortal body when a new child is born. And the process just keeps going, over and over again, unless the soul gets killed…like Mrs. Wilkins’. Then it’s finished—finito—they’re goners.”

Kara felt as though she had just been punched in the gut. Her legs stiffened. “I…I killed her. I killed her soul—this is all my fault.” She imagined Mrs. Wilkins reborn as a cute little baby. Her throat tightened. “She’ll never be reborn because of
me
. I…I killed her.”

“It’s not your fault. Don’t torture yourself. Listen…these things happen, it’s part of the job.”

Kara dropped her shoulders. “Well…this part
really
sucks.”

David shoved his fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. A three-wheeled car jerked to a stop. Kara followed David to the waiting car and squeezed herself into the back seat after him. He opened the file and showed it to the driver, who nodded and then stepped on the accelerator. The engine roared loudly. Kara and David flew against the back seats, their cramped bodies squished together in an extremely uncomfortable body tangle.

“AHHH!” wailed Kara, as the driver zigzagged his way around the great hall. She suddenly wished she had a stomach full of partially digested food, so that she could throw it up all over the driver.

Tall white flames wavered and danced up ahead, like a giant candle. The flames grew in size as they drove past them. The car raced on. It flew down invisible roads and paths in an endless blackness. Finally, it stopped. Thousands of globes sparkled all around them.

Kara looked around. A tall white fire burned in a majestic stone fireplace behind them. To Kara, it looked like a fire that belonged in a fairy tale. She wondered if she could touch the flame.

David yanked himself out of the vehicle and walked towards a wall of glowing spheres. He paid particular attention to a blackened globe which hung inches from the ground. Unlike the other sparkling spheres, no illumination came from it.

Kara pulled herself out of the car. The driver remained seated and stared in the opposite direction. A salty smell filled her nose, and her mind flashed with images of the ocean. She walked over and stood next to David. “What’s the matter with you? You look like someone just died.”

David leaned over the dark sphere. He sighed and was silent.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone so frantic out about this black ball?” She looked at it suspiciously. “What’s so special about it?”

Kara moved closer towards the dark globe. Immediately, she felt a wave of desolation pass through her, as though someone close to her had just died. She was overcome with sadness, which frightened her. She took a step back. “What…what
is
that?” She shook her head and tried to shake the feelings away. “David…what’s happening? Why do I feel like this?”

He knelt down and carefully grasped the sphere in his hands. “You’re feeling the loss of a life. This soul belonged to Mrs. Wilkins. When the soul is killed on Earth, it also dies in Horizon. The life lights have gone out. All that’s left is this blackened shell. Here…take it,” said David as he pushed himself up and stretched out his hands.

Astounded, Kara took another step back. “What? You want me to hold it? No way!”

“You have to. You were the guardian angel of that soul. You’re responsible for it.” David grabbed Kara’s right hand and pressed the globe into it.

As the cold sphere touched her skin, Kara was hit with an alarming number of different emotions, as though a collection of feelings from thousands of years had exploded into her all at once. She staggered and nearly dropped it.

“Careful now, don’t
drop
it,” said David, as he grabbed Kara by the arm and steadied her.

“This feels so weird. W…what am I supposed to do with it?” Kara trembled as the emotions ran through her body.

“Throw it in the fire. Dead souls need to be burned in the white fires of Atma,” answered David, and gestured behind them towards the huge stone fireplace. It towered fifteen feet above them. Tall white flames flickered hundreds of feet in the air.

“It’s better if you make it quick,
trust
me.” David walked towards the impressive fireplace. He dragged Kara by the elbow with him. “This part of the job
really
sucks. What you do is…you need to throw it in the fire.”

They reached the fire and stopped. Kara blinked several times. The brightness of the flames hurt her eyes, like when she used to stare at the sun without blinking.

David studied Kara’s face. “And better do it fast.”

Kara raised her eyebrows. “Wait! Why do you look so tense? What’s going to happen once I throw it in?” She had the horrible feeling that things were about to get a lot worse.

“Um, I can’t really describe it…just do it,” said David as he sensed her reluctance and pushed her forward with his hands against her back.

Wide-eyed, Kara took a step forward. She grasped the dead soul in her shaking palms. Kara approached the white fire. She was surprised to feel no heat. It was white hot, but she felt nothing…no burning sensation against her skin. She lifted her hands before her and threw the dead soul into the white fires.

The ground shook.

Millions of screaming voices exploded inside her head, as though all the existing souls cried out in excruciating pain the moment she dropped the globe into the white flames. Kara’s body burned from the inside. The screams tormented her. They pulled at her soul. Images flashed before her eyes: a dark woman working in a field, a young blond girl riding her bike in a manicured suburb, an old woman bargaining for fish in a loud market. A sudden passion rose inside her as she saw images of a beautiful red headed woman kissing her lover. More images of different women flashed inside her brain. They screamed as their souls slowly pulled away from her, dying. She swayed on the spot, as the thunderous emotions ransacked her being. And then the feelings and images disappeared. She fell onto the hard floor.

Kara opened her eyes a moment later, only to see David’s concerned face inches from her own. “It gets easier, I promise. I passed out, too, the first time. You don’t look as bad though. Okay, let’s get you up!” He yanked her back on her own two feet.

“That was…” she said in a harsh voice as she tried to regain control, “…very interesting. When do I stop shaking?”

“It’ll pass in a few minutes. I know how painful it feels…” David reached out and pressed his hand against her back, rubbing gently in a circular motion. “It’s really the worst part of the job.”

Kara lifted up her head. Their eyes met and locked. Her skin prickled as she felt warmth spilling throughout her being. Tiny electric shocks zapped all the way from her head to the tip of her toes. She pulled her eyes away. There was a long and uncomfortable silence. She didn’t dare look into his eyes again. So instead, she spoke to his boots. “When do we leave? I don’t think I can stand another minute here.”

David removed his hand from her back and stepped away. He stretched. “Right now.”

“Good.” Kara felt sick, if that was even possible in her guardian angel body. “So—where are we going now?”

David clasped his hands together and rubbed them. He beamed. “Now comes the fun part!” He danced on the spot. “You and I are going to Operations!”

O
n the elevator
ride to Operations, Kara watched silently as two identical monkeys operated the control panel. The size of common house cats, they were completely covered in black fur except for two white streaks along the sides of their backs. More white covered the bottom half of their faces, like an old man’s beard. Long bushy tails wrapped around the chair’s back rest. In a flash, one of the monkeys leaped off the chair and dashed across and around the elevator walls. It brushed the top of David’s and Kara’s heads before settling back beside its brother. It put something in its mouth and started chewing.

Kara rubbed the top of her scalp. She wanted to choke them. “That’s gross! You little
creeps!
”

“
Don’t worry about it, I got this
,” whispered David from the corner of his mouth.

Kara glared at the monkeys and put her hands on her head, protecting it from the furry cannibals. She blinked. A black shape rocketed across the walls—and then stopped. Its tiny feet dangled in the air as David grabbed a monkey by the throat.

He brought the monkey to his face. “I will pull off your tail and then your brother’s tail if you try that again…rat.
Believe
me.”

And when he let go of the monkey, it scurried away and climbed back onto the chair, facing the panel. It stood still for a moment, then turned its head and stuck out its brown tongue. Its twin gave them the finger with its four hands.

“You’re making this too easy for me, you little rats.” David took a step forward.

“Okay, we’ll stop!” said the monkeys in unison. “We promise we’ll be good.” Both monkeys flashed a set of yellow teeth and wrapped their arms around each other. Somehow, Kara wasn’t convinced. She covered her head with her hands, just in case.

After a very long three minutes of obscene theatrics from Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the elevator jerked to a stop. The doors swished open, and Kara stepped off the elevator. Her feet pressed into soft ground.

Kara lifted her head and looked around. Operations was like the Sahara Desert. Rolling hills of ruby red sand stretched out for miles, rippling like giant Ruffles potato chips. A soft breeze tickled her forehead, and she wiped her bangs away from her eyes. A strong salty fragrance filled the air around them. It reminded her of the times when she was about ten years old, running across the beach at her grandparents’ cottage, chasing the waves. Kara smiled. It was her happy place. Fluffy white clouds raced each other across a baby blue sky and out of sight.

Whloop.

Kara turned. The top of the elevator disappeared into the ground, as though a patch of quicksand had swallowed it up. She followed David down a slope leading into a populated area in the middle of the red desert. Her feet pressed deep into the sand with every step as they got closer. Soon she was walking through a maze of tall white pyramids. She squinted. “What are those?” Kara side-stepped closer to one of them and stretched out her hand. Her fingers pressed right through it. She frowned. “Is this some kind of white sand?”

“No. It’s salt,” answered David.

Kara took a handful. She opened her fingers and watched the tiny white crystals escape through the gaps. She wiped her hand on her jeans and ran to catch up with David.

“Why is all this salt here?”

“It’s for the pools.”

“Right. And …why is that again?” asked Kara.

David smiled. “It’s for protection.”

He stared into Kara’s eyes. “Salt is a weapon against demons. It acts as a repellent, sort of. It hurts them—and we can use it to kill them, too.”

Kara nodded her head. “Good to know.”

Loud thumping and squeaking noises surrounded them. Kara peeked around one of the pyramids. Hundreds of large construction-like trucks dumped huge quantities of salt onto the ground. The vehicles wheeled themselves right into the salt pyramids and sucked out the salt with long metal hoses, like giant vacuum cleaners. Massive round glass containers rested on their backs. They filled up with salt. Her eyes darted to the drivers. They were the same yellow-haired kids from the Hall of Souls.

David noticed Kara staring at the drivers. “The little guys are cherubs.”

“Cherubs?” repeated Kara. “Aren’t they supposed to have wings and fly around like cupid?”

“Don’t believe everything you read.”

Before she could open her mouth again and ask more questions, David grabbed Kara by the elbow and urged her forward. She followed him through the jungle of the salt pyramids. After a few minutes, they came to a clearing with thousands of open blue tents arranged in rows across a flatter part of the red desert. Long white drapes of cloth on poles rippled in the breeze atop each of the tents, like enormous flags. The tents were alive and loud with the clatter of steel on steel and the clamor of fighting. Hundreds of guardian angels fought each other in combat practice. They stabbed and sliced with shiny silver swords. The clanking of wood hitting wood grew louder as she spotted other angels hitting and blocking each other with wooden staffs. Puffs of red sand shot up in the air. The combatants kicked up their feet and plowed them into their opponent’s chest.

“Ouch, that’s gotta hurt.”
Kara studied David’s face. “Am I going to learn all that?” She pointed to the fighting.

David turned his head and looked at her. He smiled. “Yup. And…you’re gonna learn how to kick demon butt! Today’s your first day of combat training.”

Kara’s face twisted in a grin. She felt tiny sparks of excitement. “I always wanted to learn how to defend myself…like learning some martial arts or something. I think it’s cool.” She skipped alongside David and increased her speed.

Some tents sheltered desks, spread out in rows as in a classroom. Guardian angels sat behind them with open books. Oracles stood on their crystal balls at the front of each of these classrooms and addressed the angels.

The salty ocean fragrance lingered in the air. Kara pressed her shoes into the red sand and followed David. She stretched her neck in every direction, not wanting to miss anything. Groups of oracles rolled past them. They conversed amongst themselves, carrying large books that left long paper trails behind.

After a few minutes of walking, they reached a gully where hundreds of round pools spread out in rows and disappeared beyond the red dunes. Shining metal staircases leaned against them. Loads of guardian angels jumped into the pools at the same time, like an international diving competition. Flashes of white light hovered above the pools, and then disappeared.

Kara and David walked through the crowds of angels and oracles to a tent filled with every kind of weapon imaginable: swords, bows, daggers, maces, axes, and glowing white nets. They all dangled from hooks screwed into standing wooden panels, like large tool walls. Tables were covered with shiny blue arrows and white crystal orbs of every size. David unhooked two long daggers and hid them inside his jacket.

“What am I supposed to use?” Kara glanced at the hundreds of weapons hanging from the panels. “Hey…what do I use? Yes, very good, David.”

With a stupid smile plastered across his face and making sure he had Kara as an audience, David was juggling three orbs. He threw them higher and higher into the air. “Pick a sword or a dagger…” He caught the orbs one after another and bowed. “Whichever you want.”

Kara shook her head. He was beginning to grow on her. She saw a small golden scabbard amongst the rows of larger swords. She walked over to the panel and lifted it from its hook. It had a gold handle with wing cross guards. She clasped her left hand around the scabbard, and pulled the blade out with her right hand. A flicker of light shone on the golden blade. She turned it in her hand. Stars appeared to be etched into it. The sword felt strangely familiar in her hand, and very light.

“So, you’ve picked this one, eh?” said David, as he moved beside her.

Kara looked down at the shiny sword and grinned. “Yup. I like it. It
sparkles.
” She twirled it in her hand, as she would one of her paintbrushes. She sliced the air as she brought it down. “I’m ready to cut me up some demons!”

David pressed his right hand against his chest and screwed up his face. “I’m so proud of you, I could
cry
.”

“Please don’t. So…where to now?”

He jumped up in the air. “Now you’re talkin’ like a true GA! This way!”

David grabbed Kara by the arm and pulled her out of the tent. He dragged her with him until he found an empty tent. Then he balanced himself and pulled off his boots with his feet. “It’s better if you take your shoes off.”

Kara looked down at her black ballerina flats. “Right…these aren’t exactly combat material.” She pulled off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the red sand. The soft sand felt wonderful against her toes.

“The Legion has a few basic maneuvers that all GAs have to learn…real easy stuff.” David pulled off his jacket and threw it on the wooden table near the end of the tent. “I’ll teach you how to attack, to parry, and how to riposte.” He walked to the middle of the area beneath the tent, where the form of a circle was drawn with a white powder. He stood with legs apart. “Above all, you need to learn how to protect yourself. Once you’ve mastered this, then I’ll teach you the fun stuff…how to
hit
and
vanquish
demons!” He stretched out his right arm and gestured with his hand for her to come where he stood. “You have to know where to
cut
them…where it hurts.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this.” Kara stepped forward and stood in the circle facing David. “Um…this should be interesting.” She studied David’s grinning face. “I must warn you…I sucked in gym class.” She twisted her sword in her hand. “Never had good eye-hand coordination.”

“You’ll do fine.”

“You might lose an eye.”

“The ladies love an eye patch.”

“Okay then, I’m ready, Captain Hook.”

David flashed a smile. “First, always make sure to have sufficient distance between your feet…”

Kara mimicked David’s feet position and stood with her legs apart.

“Good. And keep track of all the moves your opponent makes. Now, I’m going to show you how to parry. When you parry, the blade should be closer to the body like this…”

David clasped the sword with both hands and pointed the blade down with his wrists pronated, “…for self defense. You should always be looking for an opening to counter the attack. You ready?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, I’m going to raise my sword and come in for an attack. Let the swords hit.”

David moved forward and with a
clang
he hit Kara’s sword with his own.

He stood facing her. “Now you want to sidestep and wrap your sword around so that you’re holding it over your head…and ready to strike back. Like this…”

David rolled around, forcing Kara to follow his momentum. She came up around him and held her sword over her head, deflecting David’s strike.

“I can do this!” said Kara. “I can really do this!”

David studied her face. “You see …you want to try it again?”

“Yeah! This is amazing. I can’t believe it …”

“If you don’t stop smiling soon, your face is gonna stay like that,” laughed David.

Kara flashed a frown at David. “What’s
wrong
with my smile?”

He raised his eyebrows, a huge smile of his own plastered across his face. “Nothing. Smiling is the second best thing you can do with your lips.”

“Hey!” Kara shoved David forward, grateful for the non-existent flush on her cheeks. “Let’s go!” She tightened her grip on her sword.

David showed Kara how to disarm her opponent by twisting his blade and leaving him no choice but to drop it. She tripped on her own feet a couple of times and fell flat on her face, which was totally normal. But what felt abnormal to Kara was the fact that she didn’t even break into a sweat and never got tired. She had no need for water, for food, or even for sleep. Like the energizer bunny, she kept on going and going and going. And for the following days—what Kara believed to be days—they spent every hour going over the hitting and blocking techniques.

“Keep your guard up!” yelled David. He slashed Kara across the arm with his blade. A deep wound.

Immediately, Kara dropped to her knees and covered the cut with her hand. She stared open-mouthed at her arm. “You-you
cut
me? You cut my arm?” She glared at David, who only stared back.

His face crinkled into a smile. “Relax, it’s nothing…”

“Nothing! You practically sliced my arm off!” Kara narrowed her eyes and looked back at her wound. She bit her lip, closed her right eye, and peeked with her left eye through her bangs. She prepared herself for the worst. But as Kara lifted her hand from her injury, she fell over backwards. A flash of brilliant light obscured her vision. She blinked. Rays of white light poured out from the gaping wound, as if a flashlight shone through the cut.

“What the…?” The wound started to heal itself. It pulled the edges of the cut together slowly, until not even a scar remained, as though her skin had stitched itself together. “I’m going mad!” She stared at her arm. “Holy shi...”

“Ah! None of
that
here,” laughed David, “you don’t want Gabriel to hear you,
trust
me.”

“But, my...my arm? My skin? It just…fixed itself!” Kara couldn’t believe her eyes; she felt as if she had just witnessed a really good visual effects stunt.

David pulled her up on her feet. “You’re an
angel
, what did you expect, blood? You have no blood—you’re not
human
anymore.”

“Right…I…I forgot. I’m not human anymore.” Kara stared at her arm where the cut had disappeared. She passed her hand along her skin. She smirked. “Wow. I’m like a super hero! I can heal myself.”

Kara was surprised to find that she enjoyed the training sessions with David. Her many injuries healed themselves, and remarkably, she developed a knack for it. The moves suddenly made sense. Her reflexes were good, and she could keep up with David.

A crowd of GAs grew slowly and formed a circle around Kara and David. Her neurons acted up. She felt prickling all over her body. She hated having any kind of attention on her. A tall and powerful-looking older teen guardian angel stepped out from the crowd. He walked up to David and Kara with a grin on his face. His brown hair shimmered in the sun. Two golden stars flashed on his forehead.